Pickpocket

Martin LaSalle und seine Darstellung des Leidens von Michel, das sich an populären Vorbildern wie "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" oder "Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törleß" orientiert, bringt echte Depressionen auch in die Seele des zufälligen Zuschauers, der sich nicht wehren kann. (02.12.2011)

A well-made film with an interesting form and an immensely great sense of detail, but unfortunately, that doesn't change the fact that the film didn't really give me anything and I truly just enjoyed the individual images, which to some extent repeated themselves. It's not an entertaining film, but still, it does say something to you. (23.03.2015)

The only thing he believed in was God. For three whole minutes. He now no longer believes. He doesn’t believe that he would interest anyone or that anyone would take him into consideration. Therefore, he steals. He feels that he is part of the indifferent world around him only when his hand, as if independent of the rest of his body, rummages through other people’s pockets. He belongs somewhere; he’s doing something. He is living...in the same mechanised substitute for life as everyone else. Just as in the case of the earlier A Man Escaped, it’s possible to imagine how Hollywood would have taken the plot of Pickpocket and turned it into a suspenseful thriller. Bresson chose the opposite route in the form of an elliptical narrative absolutely devoid of drama. There is no interest in the action, which is intentionally opaque and shot without excitement, like the rest of the film. The commentary, rationalised this time by Michel’s letter, is offered as the most convenient connection to the protagonist’s mental processes. However, we basically do not learn more from it than what we see for ourselves. Pickpocket isn’t exactly an accessible film (which is even more true of it than of Diary of a Country Priest and A Man Escaped). As such, however, it forces you to dig more deeply beneath the surface. It’s worth it for the feeling that you got close. 75% (30.07.2014)